Northern Rockies/Alberta SkiBig3

[Viking9]

So we noticed that our Ikon pass has the big3 and we’re looking at it as an option over the usual western hot spots for next year.
Any opinions or comparisons to the usual places.
Our home mountain is Mammoth.

 

[DanoT]

Banff can get brutal cold in mid winter (the cold snaps in Alberta are always colder and last longer vs B.C.), so Big3 is best skied in March and April.

 

[rustypouch]

What did you want to know? I instruct at Louise, so know the area pretty well.

Colder, less and drier snow, and fewer crowds than you're used to. Midweek outside of holidays and pow days you'll be skiing onto most lifts. The only on hill accommodation is at Sunshine, otherwise you'll be staying in Banff or Canmore. From Banff, there's free buses to all the areas. A bit trickier from Canmore, will most likely have to drive, and you'll need a park pass if you do.

Louise is obviously my fav of the three. Lots of terrain, and as spicy as you want to get. Sunshine tends to be a bit more mellow, a few more flat spots, but still lots of fun to be had. Norquay is underrated, worth at least a half day to ski the big chair.

Late March or early April is probably the best time. Normally still full winter conditions, but not stupid cold. Often good snow, but this season the snowfall in March was a bit lacking.

 

[Jim Kenney]

I skied that part of Canada around St Patricks Day 2018 for the first time. I really liked it. Had great conditions, small crowds. Stayed for 2-3 nights each in Banff, slopeside Sunshine Lodge, and in Canmore. All worked great, Canmore being the cheapest. US dollar gets you about 20-30% discount on many things. Town of Banff was fun for après ski with good food and shopping. Louise is best all around skiing, but also really enjoyed our two nights/three days in Sunshine Lodge. Did a half day at Norquay as Rustypouch suggests and loved it too, very scenic.
Friendly Mt. Norquay ski patroller:


See more photos/comments at this trip report: https://www.SkiTalk.com/threads/nor...art-2-revelstoke-and-banff.12769/#post-293319

 

[Viking9]

Just wanting to hear people’s comments who are on this site,value all the comments.
The daughter will probably fly in to Calgary and go for sure.
The wife and I would look at it as somewhere different, we’ve been to most of the popular resorts in the west including Whistler.
I looked at a map and was kind of hoping it was a little closer to a Montana resort kind of a two for one.
I really really don’t like not having my own 4 x 4 when on a ski vacation.

 

[DanoT]

I looked at a map and was kind of hoping it was a little closer to a Montana resort kind of a two for one.
I really really don’t like not having my own 4 x 4 when on a ski vacation.

Fernie and Castle (both great, with Castle being the anti-Whistler) are both near to Whitefish.

 

[Viking9]

On a side note our Tahoe has 345,000 miles on it.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

We've gone to Banff a couple of times both in Jan/Feb. Very cold but with the proper laying, all good. Shuttles from Calgary to Banff and some travel in our friend's car who's a local resident. We've stay in downtown Banff and love how walkable it is with shuttles to Louise, Sunshine and Norquay. Stay at a hotel in Lake Louise which was great but most of our experience has been in Banff. We've also stayed in Canmore which is a cute walkable town. We also took a shuttle from Canmore to Banff.

 

[dovski]

We try to do Banff every April. Love it there and get great deals on accommodation. If you have Ikon or Mountain Collective accommodation through SkiBig3 is 40% off right now and you can cancel if your plans change. My personal recommendation is to stay in Banff, which is an amazing ski town. Lots of great restaurants and the bus to all three mountains is free and picks up from every hotel. Yes you can stay in Canmore, but honestly if you book early you really do not save anything and add 30-45 minutes of additional driving to and from the hill each day, plus you have to drive. You also miss out on the wonder that you get staying in Banff or Lake Louise.

Completely agree with everyone that Lake Louise has the best terrain, and it is also on the World Cup circuit too, but typically Sunshine has better snow. Sunshine also has some amazing terrain like Delirium Dive which is pretty epic.

Agree that March and April are the nicest time of the year to ski there, but if you are willing to bundle up you can have a great time skiing world class alpine terrain with pretty much zero lift lines much earlier in the season. You are also a short drive away from some other great mountains if you want to go exploring.

A lot of folks talk about Revy and Kicking Horse, but my personal recommendation is to drive to Jasper and ski Marmot Basin which is another great resort and well worth the drive. Jasper is a sister National Park next to Banff National Park. Jasper is a beautiful mountain town, much smaller than Banff but equally special. Again reasonable rates on accommodation nice selection of restaurants and great skiing.

 

[Sibhusky]

Fernie and Castle (both great, with Castle being the ant-Whistler) are both near to Whitefish.

Except mid-March to closing is NOT the right time for Whitefish, unlike Lake Louise and Sunshine.

 

[dovski]

Except mid-March to closing is NOT the right time for Whitefish, unlike Lake Louise and Sunshine.

They do not call Canada the great white North for nothing
Joking aside the ski resorts in Banff are open until late May. Sunshine in particular used to be open till July when I was a kid, but now closes down due to lack of demand past may. I guess it is a money losing proposition to run a major ski resort without any skiers. Bottom line is that in Banff on a good year you can be skiing deep pow in April while everyone else is skiing corn snow.

 

[Tricia]

On a side note our Tahoe has 345,000 miles on it.

Stories like this are what made us second guess replacing the old S.S. SkiTalk.

Meet the new S.S.SkiTalk

The ole S.S. Pugski did great for us over the past 5 years as handling the duties as the S.S.Pugski and many years before that hauling skis all over the west but with 185K on her, she is getting long in tooth and we just dind't have confidence in her on long and remote trips in the windernesses...

www.skitalk.com

I had the original Yukon XL since it was new 2008. Lots of memories, business adventures and great ski trips

Would love to follow the road trips of your Tahoe!
400,00 or bust.

 

[Mike Rogers]

Banff can get brutal cold in mid winter (the cold snaps in Alberta are always colder and last longer vs B.C.), so Big3 is best skied in March and April.

I agree with Dano regarding the cold. Alberta is one of the colder places in North American ski country. While temperatures are okay most of the time, we usually have a week or two of dangerously cold weather. This super cold weather will usually be in December, January, or February. Last year Sunshine was closed for a few days in a row in February during a particularily bad cold snap. Louise opened late during that same period of time.

Another reason to hold off until March or April is coverage will be better later in the season. Banff and Lake Louise are dry regions. The resorts are high and northerly, so the snow that falls sticks around, but it can take some time to build a base.

March is the prime month. The first two weekends of April are usually still winter at Louise, and all of April is usually still winter at Sunshine. Things start deteriorating fast in May.

 

[Mike Rogers]

What else do you need to know?

Banff and Lake Louise are very scenic. Be sure to spend some daylight hours outside of the ski resort. A drive on the icefields parkway, north of Lake Louise is really spectacular. There are a handful of short snowshoes or skis you can take to stretch your legs.

Lake Louise doesn't have any on-hill accommodations. The village is okay. The Post restaurant is really good, but overall it is pretty quiet. Nice scenery in the village, but better scenery Lake Side. The Deer Inn and the famous Chateau Lake Louise are located on or near the lake shore. It's very beautiful, and the Chateau has a number of bars on resturants on site. It's pricy though and walking between the village and town is not practical, at least not in casual clothes. There's a free shuttle from both the Lake and the village to the resort.

Sunshine has one hotel on the mountain. It is accessed via the gondola, so there's no road access. Staying there is a unique experience, but you're kind of stuck up on the mountain in the evening....so you are stuck eating at resort owned restaurants and paying resort prices.

Banff is the best bet for accommodations. It's a fun touristy mountain town. Winter is the "off-season", so the streets will have people, but it shouldn't feel too busy. There is a lot to do in Banff.

 

[Mike Rogers]

For skiing, I am partial to Lake Louise. Louise has the best terrain and on the steeper terrain, the snow is consistently good...think winter chalk. Advanced skiers should concentrate their time skiing the Paradise lift and the backside of the Summit lift for the best terrain and best snow.

Sunshine tends to be a bit more cruisy than louise. It isn't as steep overall, and steeper terrain tends to come in shorter steps. The exception to this rule is Goat's eye, which has some really nice fall line runs, and the freeride terrain: Wild West and Delirium Dive. The Dive has the best terrain and snow in the Banff region, but it is also has some tricky avalanche conditions. It isn't open every day, and it typically opens later (10 AM or later) and closes early (2 or 3). You will also need avalanche gear and a partner to access the terrain...and the resort checks.

Norquay is to Banff what Snow King is to Jackson. It's an old school locals hill. The North American Chair has a handful of steep and bumpy runs, and the rest of the hill is firm. It's good for a half day and it popular with race kids and local families. It isn't really a destination and if time is limited I would skip it, but if you are curious, there should be enough terrain to keep you entertained for a day.

 

[Mike Rogers]

Do you want to add any other resort on to your ski big 3 trip?

Kicking Horse is 45-60 minutes west of Lake Louise. It has better snow than Banff and it is known for it's inbounds chutes and steeps. The lift system is pretty limited and you'll need to hike a bit (in-bounds) to get the most of your day, but Kicking Horse skis well in March. It's my favorite resort in the region.

Down south there is castle near Pincher Creek, Alberta. Castle has great fall line runs...and high winds. The wind transport at castle is seriously fun. The lift infrastructure here is very old...the main upper lift is a retired double chair from sunshine, but midweek you can get a lot of laps in. Just go after the wind, not during a wind storm! Castle skis best mid February to mid March. Castle isn't close to banff (3.5 hour drive), but would be on your way if you flew into kallispell.

Fernie is 1.5 hours west of Castle. It gets the most snow in the region and has excellent tree skiing. I have had some of my best powder days of my life at Fernie. Unfortunately, the resort is pretty low in elevation (the top of the "old side" is barely higher than the base of lake louise), so it can get mid-winter rain. It's one of my favorite hills, but timing is everything. I wouldn't commit to Fernie too far in advance. It's easy to get a midweek room anyway. Unfortunately, the best time to visit Fernie tends to be earlier in the seasaon (January and February), but March can be good if you time it right.

I wouldn't make a point of skiing Panorama, Nakiska, or Kimberly.

Marmot Basin in Jasper is okay...not as good as Louise, Sunshine, Fernie, Kicking Horse, or Castle, but the drive to Jasper might make skiing worth it. The drive is spectacular.

Red, Whitewater, and Revelstoke are all worth visiting, but you are starting to get further from the calgary/banff base with these options, especially Red and Whitewater.

Revelstoke is on IKON, so it is probably worth tagging? How much driving do you want to do?

 

[noncrazycanuck]

sounds like your into road tripping so this is an easy one,

To link skiing Montana with the Big3 and others Whitefish is the logical jump off point, less than 2hr to Fernie,

for Fernie I recommend booking a room on a weekend
Decide there if conditions are good for Castle which is about 1:30 away , from Castle head up the east side of the Rockies to Banff under 4hr,

if conditions aren't good for Castle head up the west side of the Rockies to Banff under 4 hr total.
Try for Castle on the return trip. All easy drives.

On west side you also pass by Kimberley a smaller hill but with some good pitches, Panorama 4000 vertical of mainly intermediate but very good skiing in Tayton Bowl.
Lots of lodging in the area.

Going just a little bit further up the same valley is Golden.
Staying there gives you the option of trying Kicking Horse and it's only 45 minutes to Lake Louise if you want to start the Big3 from that end.

 

[PlainsSkier]

Is a week before Christmas too early for the Big3? I have a week off and I want to ski somewhere, from a cost perspective Banff looks pretty good. I would go later in the season but I am pretty locked into SLC for my other big trip.

 

[Mike Rogers]

It will definitely be affordable and there is usually decent skiing. For really early season Banff is one of the better choices because you'll always have something good to ski. Cold and snow comes early to Alberta!

You won't be seeing the region at its best though. Most of the steepest terrain will be closed and the stuff that is open will be rocky. Louise opens terrain with really marginal coverage. They opened the paradise lift on the backside last halloween....with an 18 inch base. My skis took a beating! Worth it though! This terrain typically opens US thanksgiving.

I have a friend from California who skis the mountain collective resorts and he typically comes to Banff for US Thanksgiving. For November, it's good, but that's a bit of a low bar, right?

I have a season pass that allows me to ski at Louise and Kicking Horse and Fernie in BC. I ski Lake Louise in November and the first half of December. Sunshine and Louise are the best choices in the region (sometimes the only choice!) in November. Sometime between December 1 and Christmas the BC resorts catch up to Banff. BC skis better than Banff from that point until mid-February to Mid march depending on the timing of spring weather.


If you just want to ski ANYWHERE in mid December, Banff is not a terrible choice. It seems less prone to completely missing fall skiing than more southern resorts.

If the trip to Banff is meant to be special...and you want to see Banff at it's best, wait until late winter/early spring.

 

[DanoT]

You won't be seeing the region at its best though. Most of the steepest terrain will be closed and the stuff that is open will be rocky. Louise opens terrain with really marginal coverage. They opened the paradise lift on the backside last halloween....with an 18 inch base. My skis took a beating! Worth it though! This terrain typically opens US thanksgiving.

I have a friend from California who skis the mountain collective resorts and he typically comes to Banff for US Thanksgiving. For November, it's good, but that's a bit of a low bar, right?

Sun Peaks is a good early season choice and almost always 1st in the B.C. Interior to open, just before US Thanksgiving, whereas most of the rest of the resorts usually open at the start of the 2nd week of Dec.
A small amount of snowmaking and a large continuous amount of summer grooming on a not very rocky mountain are SP advantage.

Sun Peaks joined the Mountain Collective last season. Revelstoke, another Mountain Collective resort is about 3 hours away.

I have seen Sun Peaks in a poor start to the season have an 18" compacted base with 100 of 137 runs open and just hitting the odd weed and some brown snow but no rock damage to skis.